John & Anne Wiley

2010/12/21

Layers

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 01:52

Anne had hair and happiness (shopping) time this afternoon, as I cruised Altered State Street looking for a place to park. Downtown was surprisingly busy given the rain, but maybe most were doing holiday shopping and taking advantage of this break in the heavy rain of the last few and next few days. For some like Anne and me though, it was also a great time to be out and about. There was just enough rain to tingle the skin and make everything shiny. I paused at the corner before turning left onto Altered State, to snap this invigorating view of the clouds layering among the hills over Montecito. Layers of thoughtful feelings about holidays and a precious grand-daughter warmed my heart in the brisk air.

4040 Rainy Day Stroll

4040 Rainy Day Stroll

2010/12/18

Rain & Memories

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 23:31

I’ve finally found one photo of grand-daughter beautiful, being held by our jubilant son-in-law (posted on his FaceBook page). I’d like to post it, but we’ve had a policy of keeping pix of people off this blog and I already bent that rule yesterday with the old photo of my precious daughter as a newborn. So we’re sitting by the fire listening to the rain, and remembering all our sweet and fun times with her as we imagine how Happy Tired they are.

To keep myself busy, I’ve also looked through more of the photos from our most recent flight. I imagined just now what it would be like to have the whole family over for a holiday meal at this place downtown.

3976 Downtown Mans w/Tower

3976 Downtown Mans w/Tower

I wouldn’t want to own, much less live in such a massive old house. It would be fun to have that tower though, and add round windows all the way around. There did seem to be a gathering at Oprah’s place, since we seldom see more than one or two cars there just before sunset as this was.

3997 Oprah's Montecito Estate

3997 Oprah's Montecito Estate

Nearby was a quiet scene with the Chumash burial ground at Shalawa Meadow in the foreground and a serene seascape toward the distant clouds beyond Carp.

4003 Shalawa (Hammond's) Meadow

4003 Shalawa (Hammond's) Meadow

Generations of memories, here and in the homes we saw, and beyond to the native peoples who once gathered on that beach for meals and ceremonies.

2010/12/12

Homecoming

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 07:57

Tonight we hosted a small party of “Mystics” – the group we formed for a retreat in Ballyvaughan Ireland with poet, scholar, Celtic mystic and former Catholic priest John O’Donohue back in 2003. It was one of those deeply enchanting and transformative experiences in life for most of us. We met here in SB, went on hikes together, did the 10 day retreat, and have kept meeting sporadically since. Tonight we enjoyed a leisurely potluck supper and regaled each other with conversation, memories and singing. It was a homecoming of sorts, including the sense of connecting with our ancestors. Part of the Ireland experience many of us shared was being welcomed back there by the spirits of our ancestors, and tonight’s conversation touched on that.

In looking over a few photos from tonight, I also glanced back at pix from our 12/6 flight to Neverland. Among those is this one of Brad Pitt’s place, where there also may be some sort of homecoming going on. Since he began spending lots of time in New Orleans, his waterfront bungalow West of town has been deserted except for the caretakers on top of the hill. I noticed tonight that there’s a white car parked down near the beach cottages and lots of cars parked up at the entrance. Maybe he’s visiting, or they’re preparing the place for a visit. There’s some odd black thing with white “doors” on pallets that I don’t recall seeing there before, and I’m curious whether it will be there if we fly out that way tomorrow.

3874 Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie's SB Beach Cottage

3874 Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie's SB Beach Cottage

2010/12/08

Rocky Returns

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region,Tripp — John @ 02:18

No, I haven’t gotten over it. I’m the rockhound that never quits. Here’s a sequel to the rocks from above theme. It’s not just the sculptural shapes of rock formations that I enjoy. Sometimes the pure texture of a rock will capture my attention.

3860 Texture Stories

3860 Texture Stories

What created the texture on these stones? Was it only mountain rainfall erosion of sandstone laid down when this was a slumbering sea bed, or might there once have been a hillside creek or pool involved? Did humans participate at any point? Who visits this spot since the ancient peoples stopped coming? How long before this is all but buried in thick, tall brush? As you can see in this next shot, large areas are relatively clear still from the recent series of wildfires on these slopes.

3858 Rocks Revealed

3858 Rocks Revealed

An even wider view brings in Tripp’s sturdy strut, easing me from rock reveries back to flying dreams.

3861 Ridge Roaming

3861 Ridge Roaming

The brighter area top-middle is where our shadow would be if closer to the distant ridge. I like the radiant effect when looking exactly opposite the sun’s direction, and you never see that from the ground unless on a mountain top. Any time of day aloft you can spot this, and if low enough you’ll also see the shadow of your aircraft painting an impression of the outline someone on the ground will see. If they ever look up.

Well, Anne got some interesting snaps on this flight. Will she share any?

2010/12/07

Mist Approach

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 02:28

Instrument practice often involves a “missed approach” called by the pilot, as a way to save time. Basically it means you fly as if in clouds, but instead of taking the time to land and then take off again you do the procedures as if weather were so bad you couldn’t land. Well, approaching SBA after our evening flight today we enjoyed a “mist approach” when noticing the thin mist clinging to this bit of coast.

3872 Misty Coast

3872 Misty Coast

So soft and lovely with the brilliant sunset glow on the bluff. Earlier we’d enjoyed the fuzzy air caressing the undulating hills in northern Santa Ynez Valley on our way to take a fresh peek at Michael Jackson’s Neverland estate.

3842 Blanket of Hills

3842 Blanket of Hills

Reminds me of a rumpled blanket, as if some giant forgot to make his bed. On the way home the quaint village of Los Olivos looked like a movie miniature.

3853 Los Olivos Shadows

3853 Los Olivos Shadows

I’ve sent some pix from this flight to Edhat and also put a few on my Photo Page, so you could use the links in the right column here if you’d like to see more. Tomorrow I might share other views here and on those sites, as I go through the snaps from today.

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